130 Defender directional stability

[DeanoH]

Well I finally got the Defender mobile, well for about 2 Kms up the road before one of the treads lifted on a rear tyre, limped home thud, thud , thud ………………………at 25Km/h. :(

Well, four new/second hand, actually five, tyres later it’s back on the road. At least these ones are balanced and a lot smoother than the old Firestone tyres. Managed to find 5 identical Bridgestone AT’s over 2 different dealers which was a bit of luck. All the same fitted and balanced, good 6-8 mm of tread, for $370. Could be worse.

On my test run up the highway I notice that when accelerating the vehicle pulls to the left and decelerating pulls to the right. Not a lot but noticeable. So I guess this means either a/. the 300 Tdi is so powerful the torque of the engine is pulling the Defender to one side or b/. the rubber mounts on the rear suspension arms where they join the chassis have had it. I’m thinking the latter.

Any thoughts.

Deano :)

[ade]

I had the same problem on my 300tdi disco, definately the tourque produced:D

[steveG]

Check the front radius arm bushes too - particularly the ones at the diff end of the arms.

Steve

[justinc]

Deano, steering under throttle is more than likely the rear trailing arm bushes, as you have said.
Even a 300Tdi will cause this phenomena...
:wasntme:

JC

[nealo]

Definitely the bushes as my 130 was doing the same. Turns out someone had dodgied up some bushes from another vehicle on the rear arms where they connect to the chassis and was doing exactly the same as yours

[TimNZ]

Take the front prop off and check to see if the slip joint has seized.

Cheers,

Tim

[DeanoH]

Thanks for the response. Here's the problem.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2012/08/1839.jpg

Here's a picture of the other side

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2012/08/1840.jpg

These ' ‘Rear Upper Bottom Link Bushes’, NTC9027G 'were definitely the problem. Changing them was a real breeze, less than $30 a pair (plus p&p) and about half an hour to do both and the 'steering under throttle' was a thing of the past. :)

But the unexpected benefit was the major improvement in driving ease that's resulted after changing these mounts.
As a Defender I expect it to take a bit more effort to drive than a sedan so didn't think anything amiss (apart from the throttle steer) but the improvement in driving ease, a bit hard to define, was profound. I can now drive down the highway, one finger steering :angel: with the 130 tracking perfectly.

Probably the best 'Bang for Buck' thing I've done to the Defender to date. :D:D

Deano :)